Movie streaming service could benefit broadband users

Broadband users in the UK could benefit from a new film streaming service from YouTube, which will be opening with a selection of over four hundred titles.

Movie watching is something that has become increasingly popular amongst broadband consumers in the UK, and many use their broadband connections to stream movies and other content. Many will therefore be pleased about the release of a free film streaming service that has been released by YouTube, which will open with a selection of over four hundred titles.

YouTube Movies is a service that will be offering the free movie streaming service to broadband users, and will make its revenue through advertising and marketing around the service. Deals have been made with a number of movie studies on the United States such as MGM and Sony, as well as the UK’s Blinkbox.

Blinkbox officials said that the service is essentially a marketing exercise. The UK film steaming website usually charges between 99 pence and £2.99 per movie stream. However, whilst the service looking to expand over time the latest blockbusters will not yet be available to those that want to use the service, with most films being described as belonging to the ‘classic’, ‘arthouse’, and ‘cult’ categories.

Blinkbox CEO Michael Comish recently said in an interview: “We hope that people will try them and then come back and use Blinkbox, although we are making some revenue from adverts sold around the service.” The service will complement the existing TV Shows section of the YouTube site, which allows consumers to watch catch up programmes from the likes of Channel 4 and Channel 5.

Source – PC Pro